Perry adds sanctuary cities to special session

Published 5:30 am, Tuesday, June 7, 2011

AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry on Tuesday added a ban on "sanctuary cities" to the agenda of the special session, in which legislative rules favor its passage despite opposition from outnumbered Democrats concerned about issues including racial profiling.

As approved in the recently ended regular session by the Texas House, which has a GOP supermajority, the legislation would bar local governments from preventing law enforcement officers from inquiring into the immigration status of people they detain.

The proposal stalled in the Senate because of a rule that generally requires a two-thirds vote of senators to consider a proposal.

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Democrats oppose the legislation, and the 19-12 GOP majority in the Senate does not reach the two-thirds threshold. The rule, however, is not in place for the special session.

"Texas owes it to the brave law enforcement officials, who put their lives on the line every day to protect our families and communities, to give them the discretion they need to adequately do their jobs," said a statement from Perry, who had declared the abolishment of so-called sanctuary cities an emergency in the regular session.

She said questions about immigration status cannot be raised without racial profiling unless officers ask everyone they detain.

Police chiefs and sheriffs who have come to the Capitol to oppose the idea have said it would burden already-stretched local officers with enforcing federal immigration laws and hamper community policing efforts that rely on building trust to encourage people to report crimes.

Van de Putte noted that in the regular session, the Senate passed a measure that would require authorities to run information on everyone arrested through a federal immigration enforcement program called Secure Communities, which is operational in every Texas county.

She called that a "common-sense" approach.

Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, last week filed sanctuary city legislation that includes the Secure Communities element, as well as a provision on questioning detainees about their status.

It also would authorize the Texas Department of Public Safety to determine whether a person is in the country legally before issuing a driver's license. Driver's licenses also would expire at the end of a person's legal stay.

Perry included all those topics on the special-session agenda, which he controls.

DPS already has implemented rules tying immigration status to driver's licenses. The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund is challenging those rules in court, saying they have prevented many people in the country legally from getting licenses.

If enacted, Williams' proposal would undermine the legal challenge "to an extent" because the group said in its lawsuit that DPS did not have legislative authority to enact the rules, according to MALDEF legislative staff attorney Luis Figueroa.